Ask a Senshi
by persian85033
Summary: Minako comes up with an idea for a newspaper column where people submit their questions for a senshi to help them. What could this lead to?
1. Chapter 1

Six girls sat in a booth at the arcade.

"You know,"one of the asked. "I wonder what Sailor Venus would say to me."

"On what subject?"asked the girl with a bright red bow in her long, blonde hair.

"On what other one!"demanded the one with short, brown hair. "Isn't she the Soldier of Love, or something? You think she'd be a good matchmaker. She'd find me someone, don't you think? Really, just where have you been, Minako?!"

"Hmm, I think you're right!"Minako answered.

"And Sailor Mercury would help with homework. I'm going to flunk chemistry!"she sounded distressed.

"Chemistry's not hard."a girl with short blue hair told her. "If you just study-"

"But I do study! I just don't get it at all! If only someone knew where they lived!"

"What would you do?"asked Minako keenly.

"Why, I'd go and talk to them, of course! I'd ask Mercury to tutor me! I could do something for her in return!"

"Really!"

She nodded.

"But there's no way to reach her. I really need some help. I mean, you're great, Ami, but…I think I'm just hopeless! I don't know what else to do! Imagine, Sailor Mercury tutoring me, ha! Like anyone would waste their time! Which is just what you probably feel you're doing, Ami! I think I am hopeless!"she sniffed.

A few minutes later, she left, and the other five waited for the girl with the meatballs to finish her milkshake.

"You know, Tamiko was right."Minako was telling them.

"About what?"asked Rei.

"Ami tutoring her!"

"She's not hopeless."said Ami. "I think she's coming along all right."

"No, I mean, Sailor Mercury!"Minako told them.

"But she is tutoring her!"Makoto looked confused.

"But she doesn't know that!"

"You know we can't do that!"

"Mercury's going to tutor her! And the rest of the senshi as well! And not just tutor!"Minako told them.


	2. Chapter 2

Minako put down the phone.

"Now all we have to do is wait!"she said, happily.

"When do you think the first questions will start coming in?"Usagi asked, eagerly.

"Soon enough, you'll see."Minako looked confident.

"I just don't know, Minako."Ami looked worried. "What will Luna and Artemis have to say about this, after all?"she asked.

Minako dismissed the comment with a wave of her hand.

"Don't worry about them."she said. "Artemis will just have to deal with it, and Luna, Usagi can handle Luna."

Rei did not look too happy.

"I really don't like this."

"Don't worry, you'll love it when you see just how popular Sailor Mars really is!"

The next day, the give girls crowded around Ami's computer.

"Anything?"

"Hmm, several."she said. "Three for Sailor Venus, five for Sailor Moon, two for Sailor Mars, eight for Sailor Jupiter, and…fifteen for me?"

"How come you get so many?"Usagi pouted.

Ami read the questions.

"Hmm, mostly people asking me for help with their studies."

"Only three?!"Minako sounded indignant. "_Dear Sailor Venus, I'm _very_ worried about my boyfriend. He's jealous of this guy who lives next door to my apartment. He's really cute, well, they both are, but my boyfriend gets so mad everytime he comes to my house! What would you recommend?_ Hmm. Ah! Simple, if you're boyfriend's jealous, it proves he really loves you. You should try to make him more jealous, to find out how much he cares!"

"That's a dumb answer, Minako!"said Makoto. "Don't guys get jealous when you don't care about them?"

Minako looked over her shoulder.

"Excuse me, but who is the senshi of love around here?"she asked, in a cold voice.

That shut Makoto up.

"What about me, what about me?"Usagi pushed the other girls out of the way, in order to get closer to the screen. "_Dear Sailor Moon, I know you must be very busy what with saving the world, and all that, but there's something I just have to know, how do you do your hair? I've tried a billion times to get those meatballs perfectly, but I just can't! How do you keep from tripping over it, too? It's gotta be tough, fighting youmas, and having to watch out for your hair._ Someone wants to do their hair like mine!"

"Then they must be retarded."muttered Rei.

"My turn!"Makoto announced. "_Dear Sailor Jupiter, I've been such a fan of yours for a loooooooong long time. I can't believe I'm finally writing to you! I wish I could ask you this, face to face, but as that's not an alternative, I'd like you to go out with me. Anytime's good._ Oh, wow! He's asking me for a date!"

"What makes you so sure it's a he?"

"You're just jealous!"

"Let's see you, Rei!"

"_Dear Sailor Mars, I wish you could help me with something. How do you it, to work with fire. I'm terrified of fire. I mean, I like the flames, and all that, they're pretty to look at, but they're freaky. And I'm so scared to get burned. Any advice? I look like an idiot, that I can't do something so simple as fry an egg, because I'm afraid I'll get a burn. I'd really appreciate any advice you may have. Thanks._"

"Hmm, do you have any advice, Rei?"

Rei rolled her eyes.

"Ugh."

"Oh, wow! You can actually ask the sailor senshi questions?"Jadeite's eyes almost popped out of his head.

Zoicite ran to his side.

"How?"

"Why? Are you two interested in questioning the senshi?"Kunzite asked them, not looking up from his newspaper.

"Who isn't?"Mamoru laughed.

"I know I'm not."said Nephrite. "I'm more interested in questioning someone else."he said.

"And who would that be?"Jadeite asked, coldly.

"One of your girlfriend's friends, Mamoru."

Mamoru put his book down.

"I already told you, to leave them alone!"he said. "Really, if you just want to have fun with them, leave them alone, and find someone else. Someone more your own age!"

"You're not their big brother, you know."

Mamoru frowned at Nephrite.

"I mean it! Usagi really cares about her friends, it would really distress her if you hurt them, or something!"

Nephrite sighed.

"Fine! Whatever you say."

_If anyone's got any question they'd like one of the girls to answer, just submit it, and I'll be happy to add it to the story._


	3. Chapter 3

"_Dear Sailor Mercury, could you please read these books I got assigned for me literature class? Then you can tell me about them?!_"Ami raised her eyebrows, and read silently. "I've read these both."she said.

"So, why don't you help this person?"said Minako.

"But that would be cheating!"

"We're supposed to help people!"Minako insisted.

Artemis walked in.

"Hello."he greeted everyone.

"Hi, Artemis."

He jumped on the table.

"What's up?"he asked, looking at the screen. "What?!"he screeched. "What does this mean? The senshi!"he turned to the girls. "This must be a new enemy!"

Ami opened her mouth to tell him it was not a new enemy, but Minako spoke first.

"That's just what we thought!"she said, seriously. "Only what enemies would have an interest in any of Ihara Saikaku's works!"she asked.

Artemis nodded.

"We have to look into this. We have to get to the arcade."he insisted.

"Not now, Artemis,"Minako grabbed him, and threw him in another room. "There!"

"What'd you do that for?"asked Makoto.

"You should have just let me tell him the truth."said Ami.

"This is too good for Artemis to be getting involved in. Now we just have to start charging people for each question we answer. Then I'll be able to buy that new dress I saw at the mall!"

"That's actually a good idea! I had no clue you were a businesswoman, Minako!"Makoto sounded impressed. "That could buy tons of flower pots!"

Minako shrugged, looking smug.

"And can you imagine the milkshakes!"squealed Usagi.

"We wouldn't really be cheating anyone, anyway. I mean, we are the senshi, after all."said Rei, slowly.

She seemed to support the idea, now that Minako suggested charging money.

"So, what about the question?"asked Rei. "Are you going to answer them?"

Ami thought for a while.

"Well, it comes out next week, and we have to type it out as well as print out."

"I can't type."said Usagi.

"I'm a fast typer."Ami told her, typing away.

"Ah, but I bet you can't type more than…"Minako thought. "Umm…four thousand words per minute?"she asked.

Ami turned.

"Four thousand?!"

"I meant, seven hundred!"Minako corrected herself.

Ami thought for a minute. It might be fun, after all. And she knew she could do it.

"I think I can."she said.

"Prove it! Otherwise, you have to ask whomever I tell you for a date!"

Ami looked dumbstruck. Asking someone for a date?

"I'm pretty sure Ami can!"cheered Usagi.

"That's a wonderful idea! It's set!"agreed Makoto. "You can't back out now!"

Ami turned and began to type away.

"You lost!"Minako exclaimed. "Now you have to ask…Zoicite for a date! And kiss him as well!"

"But we never agreed on that!"squeaked Ami.

Kiss him?! Minako picked up the phone, and handed it to Ami.

"Well, let's go!"

"Um, I think I should do this personally."said Ami.

Just how was she going to get out of this? Minako smiled. She'd seen the looks Ami would sometimes sneak when she thought no one was looking. Ami would never concede to dating anyone, or admit that she liked Zoicite, Minako knew, but she'd take care of that!


	4. Chapter 4

"There isn't a better opportunity!"insisted Minako.

The girls waited at the arcade. Minako looked at her watch, and nodded.

"They should be here soon."

Ami was blushing bright red. How could this be happening! How could she be sitting here, with the prospect of asking Zoicite for a date?!

"I don't think this is a good idea."she said.

Minako slammed her milkshake on the table.

"Ami, you are asking him whether you like it or not! Here they come! Well?"

Ami put her face in her hands. The other girls watched, eagerly.

"But I can't do that in front of his friends."she said in a small voice.

Minako rolled her eyes.

"Never mind them!"

Ami could see that she had no other choice. She gulped, stood up, and walked toward four guys. She could feel her palms sweating. How could she have accepted that dare!

"Um, hello."she said, as she approached them.

"Hello."they answered.

Ami determinedly kept her gaze on the ground. Perhaps it was better to have his friends here. At least that way, she wasn't alone with him.

"Um, I was just…here…I'dliketoaskZoicitetogooutwithme."she said quickly.

"I beg your pardon?"asked Kunzite.

Ami wished she could simply disappear into the ground.

"Um, what I meant, was,"she took a deep breath. "if Zoicite would go out with me."

Everyone stared. From the other booth, the other four girls watched. They wish they'd bugged Ami so they could hear every piece of the conversation.

"You think she asked him all ready?"asked Makoto.

Minako's attention was only on Ami and the guys, and she appeared no tot have heard Makoto at all.

"I don't think we could bug Ami. She'd find out right away."

"I think we should have brought Luna and Artemis."suggested Usagi. "They could eavesdrop easier, and we'd be able to know what they're saying!"

Ami walked back to their booth, and took her seat, looking white as chalk.

"So?"asked Minako, eagerly.

"When are you going?"

"What'd he say?"

Everyone began to ask questions at the same time. Ami remained silent, no knowing who to answer first.

"Come on, Ami, tell us!"Usagi insisted.

"I know!"Minako held up her hand. "She probably wants to wait until the very last minute, when she gets him to kiss her! Then she'll tell us everything! It's just your way of punishing us, isn't it, Ami? By not telling us _anything_ until the last minute!"she said gleefully.

"What?!"the other girls looked dumbstruck.

"But Ami-!"

"No, nope, nope!"said Minako. "She's going to keep it secret! Which just give me another idea! Sailor Venus is going to start arranging blind dates!"she exclaimed. "Who better to do so than the senshi of love!"

Makoto sighed.

"I'd still much rather know about Ami's date. How else are we going to help you prepare!"she asked Ami.

"You'll just have to leave that in my hands!"said Minako.

The other girls didn't look too happy.

"Why should you have all the fun, Minako?"grumbled Usagi.

"Because you're a princess, and I'm the leader of the guardian senshi! And as a leader, it's my responsibility to see that Ami's date is a complete success!"

Usagi looked miserable at missing out on such an event, Makoto looked furious, and Rei skeptical.

"I really don't think it's going to work."Rei insisted. "I mean, Ami's not really going to be able to pull this through. Seriously, Ami, you and that guy have nothing in common what so ever!"she shrugged. "Maybe you should have asked someone else."

Minako looked thoughtful.

"You're absolutely right, Rei! I guess we should cancel this, and Ami can go out with Jadeite instead! That's a much better match!"

Rei, who was sipping her milkshake slowly, choked at Minako's suggestion.

"What?!"she demanded, coughing, tears coming down her cheeks. "Just what did you say?!"she repeated.

Minako simply shrugged.

"Well, obviously Ami and Zoicite won't make a good couple. It seems to me Ami and Jadeite have more in common."she said casually.

Rei looked away, indifferently.

"If you say so!"she said, coldly.

Minako smiled.

"Well, Ami, apparently, Jadeite is a better match for you!"

Ami looked uncomfortable.

"But I've already-"Ami began.

"No problem!"Minakot interrupted. "You were obviously so nervous, I'll go and tell them you meant Jadeite, not Zoicite!"she got up.

"Sit down!"Rei grabbed Mina's blouse and pulled her back down.

Mina fell on the ground next to the table.

"Ow!"

"What did you do that for?!"she demanded as Makoto helped her to her feet.

"Hmph!"Rei looked away from them.

"I didn't think that Ami having a date would upset you so much, Rei. Is it because she got a date before you?"asked Usagi.

Rei looked determinedly away from them, moodily.

"She's jealous! Ha!"Usagi looked delighted. "Of you, Ami! This is so exciting! What are you going to wear? Where are you going to go?"

Ami didn't want to say that she was actually the one who perhaps felt a bit jealous of Rei. She'd rather have the other girls teasing her, then having to face a date with a guy.

"Can you believe your luck?"Nephrite asked him. "She just comes, and _she_ asks _you_ for a date!"

"I wouldn't have believed it!"Zoicite admitted.


	5. Chapter 5

Ami kept glancing at her watch. She wished it could be time to leave, the other girls wouldn't stop teasing her.

"I simply did it because I had no other choice!"she insisted.

"You're still going on a date!"Usagi looked delighted. "And you have to look your best."

Minako stood up, her hands on her hips.

"Too true! Let's get going! You're going to need a whole new outfit, jewels, not to mention, perhaps even a trip to the salon!"

Ami looked perplexed.

"But I have some clothes for formal occasions."said Ami.

"It's not just a formal occasion! It's your first date, Ami!"insisted Minako indignantly. "You're going to look wonderful!"she grabbed Ami's wrist and led her out, with the other girls following. "Now, first, we have to buy you a new outfit!"

"But-"Ami protested.

"No buts!"said Minako, sternly. "We have some shopping to do!"

Ami followed helplessly, Usagi slurped the remainder of her milkshake before rushing after them. Makoto followed eagerly, and Rei looked unhappy.

"So, where should we look first?"Usagi asked, looking around store windows.

Minako eyed the store windows critically.

"This looks just fine."said Ami, gesturing at a flowered skirt and blouse.

"Absolutely not!"Minako looked indignant. "You'd look like an old lady! You have to look your best! After all, we wouldn't want Jadeite to get the wrong impression!"she added.

At the sound of the name Jadeite, Rei whirled around.

"Excuse me?!"she demanded.

"I meant Zoicite! It's just that since you seem to think that Jadeite is the ideal match for Ami, Rei, I just can't help but question myself. Perhaps it's all a mistake!"Minako sighed, sadly.

Ami nodded.

"I agree. I think it is."

Rei looked away from the other girls, gritting her teeth.

"You're going with Zoicite, and that's all there is to it, Ami!"she said, angrily.

Everyone looked surprised to see Rei insisting on Ami's date.

"I thought you were against this, Rei."said Makoto.

"Pay no attention to her."insisted Minako, coming with a handful of skirts, blouses, jeans, and other items, it was amazing that she could see where she was going.

"I can't buy all this."said Ami.

"You're going to try it on!"she insisted. "Then we'll decide which is better!"

"All of them!"

Minako nodded.

"Every last one! Then we'll have to go and get your hair done. And a manicure, a new pair of shoes, a pedicure, and so forth, but we've got to start somewhere."

She pushed Ami into a dressing room.

"And you're not coming out until you've tried it on!"she told Ami.

Minako looked thrilled, as she observed the mini skirt, blouse, and sandals she had decided would be best for Ami's date.

"You look perfect!"

Usagi and Makoto agreed with Minako.

"But this skirt is so short!"exclaimed Ami.

"Sailor Mercury's skirt is the same length!"Minako disagreed.

"But Sailor Mercury-"Ami began, then stopped, and the color drained from her face.

She ran behind Makoto.

"What-?"

"Oh, hello."they heard Zoicite's voice, as he walked over to them.

"Hello! We weren't expecting to see you here."Usagi answered, waving merrily.

"Me neither."he shook his head.

"We're trying to find something for Ami to wear on her date with you!"she told him. "Are you looking for something to wear, as well? You should see what Minako-"

"We were really just looking around! And we simply found something Ami thought would look nice, is all!"Minako interrupted Usagi.

Zoicite smiled.

"I'm sure that anything Ami chooses will look wonderful."he assured.

"We're really busy!"Makoto insisted. "Um, but didn't you have something to do!"

Ami was hiding behind her, as she was the tallest of the girls, and seemed determined not to be spotted, but was pulling on her hair.

"You shooed him off!"Rei told her.

"Good job! It would have been disastrous if he'd seen Ami's new outfit! Then their date would be an absolute failure!"said Minako.

"Mianko! It's a date! Not a wedding!"corrected Rei.

"There are still certain rules to follow! Now we have to go to my house, and you're going to read all my magazines, so you'll know what to do!"Minako told Ami. "You really are going to need all the help you can get!"

Minako looked thoughtful.

"Hmm…you know, I'm not sure if you should call him, or he should call you."she said, thoughtfully.

Ami looked stunned.

"Absolutely not!"she exclaimed. "I can't call him!"

"It's best if he calls you, after all. You can't seem too anxious. He should call you."she turned to Usagi. "Maybe you should have Mamoru help us, as well! We can keep track of Zoicite through him!"

They sat with a pile of Minako's magazines on the floor around them.

"I think Minako's the one going on a date, not Ami."said Rei, as she read an article on hair care.

"You don't need that, Rei. Your hair's perfect the way it is. You should be writing those articles. Then we'd find out what your secret is."said Makoto.

Rei smiled.

"Hmm, I wonder if Jadeite thinks so."she said, quietly.

"What's that?"asked Usagi.

"Nothing."Rei snapped.

Minako came out, and handed Ami a bottle.

"What's this for?"

"That's the perfume you're wearing! It's a special one I save for special occasions only! I'm lending it to you!"Minako handed the bottle to Ami.

"What kind of occasions? How come you never lend it to me when I go out with Mamoru!"Usagi demanded.

"You don't need this kind of luck! Ami does! Trust me! You have to wear that!"she said to Ami.

Ami took the bottle.

"Well, thank you, Minako."she said.

Minako smiled.

"Trust me! It's a very special perfume!"she assured them.

Ami shrugged, and put it in her bag.


	6. Chapter 6

"I should be there already!"Ami was worrying.

Minako, however, wouldn't let her leave.

"You have to take your time! You should be ten minutes late, minimum!"she insisted.

Ami looked uneasy.

"But if I'm late-"she began.

"Nope, nope, nope! You can't seem too anxious!"she insisted.

"But I'd give a bad impression if I was late."

"You did remember to use that perfume?"she asked.

Ami nodded.

"Of course, but shouldn't we get going?"

"Just a few more minutes."insisted Minako.

At first, Ami didn't really want to go, and she'd been hoping that the others would forget, and she could go home, however, that didn't seem likely at all. She had no idea how she should act, despite all the lessons Minako had given her throughout the day.

"Perfect!"Minako turned to Ami. "Now, remember everything I told you! And tomorrow, you have to tell us everything!"

"And don't forget he has to kiss you!"Usagi reminded.

Ami would much rather forget. The date was tormenting enough, and the kiss would be too much. She blushed just thinking about it.

Everyone waited impatiently, Minako without taking her eyes off the clock, Usagi enjoying a cup of hot cocoa, Makoto relaxing reading a fashion magazine, and Rei sipping a cup of tea.

"Maybe we should have waited at Ami's instead. What if she decides to go there, instead of coming back here."

"She left her book here."said Makoto. "She'll be back. I'm surprised you didn't want to follow her."

Minako groaned.

"You're right! We should have done that!"

Ami ran in the door, flushed.

"You're back already."commented Rei.

"Now, you have to tell us everything!"said Minako.

Usagi and Makoto looked just as eager as Minako did, and even though she was obviously trying not to show it, Rei was also curious about hearing the news.

"Well?"Rei demanded.

Ami cleared her throat.

"I don't think this is a good idea. It's late, and I do have some studying to do."answered Ami.

The other girls looked shock, and Ami got up and headed toward the door. Minako grabbed her arm.

"Oh no, you don't!"she said. "We've been waiting for all afternoon! You're going to tell us everything now!"

"There's nothing to tell."said Ami quietly.

"Nothing to tell?!"demanded Minako. "Are you trying to say that Artemis lied to me?!"

"You mean you had Artemis following them, and you didn't tell us?!"Makoto exclaimed.

"No!"said Minako. "Just what do you mean there's nothing to tell? He didn't kiss you or anything?"

Ami blushed a deep scarlet, looking very uncomfortable.

"Then what good were all your suggestions, Minako. Apparently, not very, if they didn't work on Zoicite. Or maybe he's not interested in women? Because I can't believe Ami didn't learn anything. Ami's the best at every class she takes."Rei was saying, coldly.

Unknown to the other girls, she had secretly taken a small tape recorder, and recorded everything, every single detail that Minako had told Ami, as she thought if they worked for Ami, they would be bound to work for her, and she could do the same thing with Jadeite. She was furious that they hadn't. It was obvious that they were probably just another of Minako's eccentricities. Minako had probably thought them up herself in the first place, not gotten them from reliable sources as she'd claimed. Rei looked furious, she was just thankful that she hadn't made a fool of herself in front of Jadeite as Ami had probably done in front of Zoicite.

"Actually,"said Ami, quietly. "I think they must have worked, but I'm not sure which. Or why."

At the sound of Ami's words, Rei forgot about teaching Minako a lesson and turned to Ami.

"Excuse me?"she pushed Usagi out of the way.

"Hey! Ami was-"Usagi complained.

"Sh!"Rei shushed her, and tugged her long dark hair behind her ears, as though to hear Ami better.

"Just what I said. That Zoicite does like girls, and some of what Minako said must be true, because it did work. But I'm not sure how or what. I wasn't really paying close attention, I was too nervous about the date itself to pay attention to what Minako was saying."Ami admitted. "I'm sorry."

"I knew it!"said Minako. "Now you're going to have to tell us all about it!"

Rei smiled. So there was some truth in the things Minako said. She would have to listen to the tape very closely now.

"Well,"Ami began, looking uncomfortable. "I was nervous at least at first. He kept, just, I don't know. He was very attentive, and he took me to this very nice place."she looked thoughtful. "You know, he's not…empty headed. He's really very smart, and he knows so many things! We mostly spoke about physics, and he knows just what classes I should take to become a doctor. He's also interested in linguistics, and would you believe, he's more into the cultural aspect of medicine. It's very important to understand different cultures, and traditions, because most doctors will probably see patients of different cultural backgrounds at least-"

"Yes, yes, yes."interrupted Minako, impatiently. "But let's not discuss that right now. Tell us about your date."

Ami looked surprised at having been interrupted in mid sentence.

"Um, anyway,"she resumed. "I think I might consider taking some classes in that as well. I'd never really thought about it."

"But he did kiss you?"asked Makoto.

Ami looked uncomfortable.

"Well…"she began. "Um,"

The other girls looked impatient.

"The truth is…yes, he did."she finished in a small voice.

"Ha! I knew it!"said Minako, excited.

"But I'm not really sure why he did."Ami looked confused. "I mean, I didn't really do or say anything."

Minako disregarded Ami's comment.

"It's simple! It was obviously that perfume I gave you!"

Rei rolled her eyes.

"Please, Minako."

"It's true!"Minako said defensively.

She took out the small bottle.

"You see, it's a special concoction which Artemis told me was used only by the senshi of Venus only! It's like a love potion."Minako scratched her head. "Only it only works when there is some attraction, it doesn't really create love, like it sort of works only if it's already there."Minako shrugged. "It's complicated, the point is, that Ami and Zoicite were obviously already in love, but were too shy, that's why we had to resort to this. Obviously, Usagi and Mamoru didn't need it."

The other girls looked shocked, Ami looked like she was about to faint.

"What?! You mean you've kept this to yourself all this time? Where did you get this? It's such a tiny bottle!"demanded Makoto.

"I never seem to run out, actually, no matter how much, or how often I use it. And you'll have to ask Artemis about it. He says such a thing is found only on Venus. It'll work for non-Venusians, but you have to go to Venus to get it."she told them.

"And you've been hiding this from us?"Usagi exclaimed.

Makoto looked thoughtful.

"So, could you use it, to like, test if someone likes you?"she asked.

"I guess so."said Minako. "Artemis said you had to be careful with it, though."

"So he only kissed me because of the perfume?"asked Ami. "I thought…"

"No, no, no."Minako shook her head. "If he was indifferent, he wouldn't have kissed you, regardless of the perfume."she assured Ami.


	7. Chapter 7

Artemis slept on his cushion, as Minako insisted that she needed her beauty sleep. Besides, he couldn't stand the scent of some of the lotions and shampoos she used. He was awakened by an odd sound. Perking his ears up, he listened closely. Burglars!he thought.

Makoto wished she wasn't so tall, as she tried to crawl under the windows towards the door of Minako's house. Or if only Minako's house didn't have so many windows! Her hands and knees were starting to ache, from having crawled so much of the way. She took a hairpin from her hair, ready to begin opening the lock, when to her surprise, she saw the door was already open. Hmm, that was interesting, then again, Minako had probably left the door open. That was no surprise, Minako was so eccentric that she'd probably forgotten to lock the door. Normally, she'd be concerned, but for now, it worked to her advantage.

Rei opened the door. It had taken her quite a while, but oh well. She had been planning this since Minako had told them about the perfume that she'd given Ami. If it had worked for Ami on Zoicite, it was bound to work on Jadeite, she was sure. There was no doubt about it. She entered the house, and tiptoed as quietly as she could, not making any noise. Just where could Minako possibly keep that perfume? The most likely answer would be in her bedroom. Or in the bathroom. To get all the way there, and Minako was probably there as well. This was going to much harder than she'd imagined. She froze, as she heard a crash. Did Minako suspect something?

Usagi accidentally knocked over what seemed to be a vase, or some small ornament. She had to get that perfume, whatever the cost! Although she and Mamoru had no problems, it would be fun to see what effect it had on him. Not to mention to see if any other guys liked her!

"Minako!"Artemis tried to wake her. "Minako! Wake up! Transform! We have burglars!"

"Hmm?"Minako simply pushed him, and pulled the covers over her head.

"Minako!"

It was obvious that this wasn't going to work. Minako simply mumbled in her sleep. Artemis sighed. Obviously, he was obviously going to have to take care of it himself, before they caused any damage, or stole something of value. He pushed the door open, fortunately Minako didn't lock the door, and walked into the hallway. What was he going to do? He wandered out, and heard the crash. At least the burglars weren't very clever. He stopped in his tracks.

"Usagi?"he asked, dumbstruck.

"Artemis!"she looked happy to see him.

He would certainly know where Minako kept her perfumes.

"Do you know where Minako keeps her perfumes?"she asked him.

"Huh?"he looked confused. "I thought burglars had broken in, and were trying to rob, and I couldn't wake Minako."

"Well, I borrowed one from Minako, and I forgot to give it back."she said. "That's why I'm here."she explained.

"Oh,"he nodded. "Why couldn't it wait until tomorrow?"

"Uh, because then it would be too late."

"Shh!"Artemis listened. "I think I was right! There definitely is someone else here! I think they're coming this way!"

Usagi grabbed a frying pan, and hit the person coming through the door with it.

"Ow!"

"Rei!"Usagi and Artemis exclaimed at the same time.

Rei rubbed her head.

"What are you doing here?"Usagi asked her.

"I didn't know Minako was having a sleep over."

"She is?"

Rei looked up.

"Aren't you sleeping over?"

"No."Artemis told her. "She's here because, apparently, she forgot to return something she borrowed from Minako."he explained.

"What? What are you talking about?"

Artemis looked at Usagi.

"I don't understand."he said.

"Neither do I."said Rei.

"But what are you doing here, Rei?"he asked Rei.

"I don't remember you borrowing anything from Minako."

"Didn't Artemis ask you a question?"

"Huh? Makoto?"Artemis interrupted their argument. "Oh! I see! There's supposed to a meeting? Where's Ami?"

"What are you two doing here?"Makoto asked them.

"I don't suppose you also forgot to return something to Minako as well?"asked Rei.

"Well, you haven't told us what you're doing!"

"Artemis, turn that down!"they heard Minako. "You just woke me up in the middle of a lovely dream! You're really going to get it for that!"

They heard Minako getting up, and then heard her footsteps.

"What are you doing here?"she looked surprised, when she saw everyone.

"What is going on here?"Artemis demanded. "I don't understand a thing! Is this a joke?"

"What is everyone doing here?"she asked.

Artemis looked suspicious.

"What is everyone really doing here?"he demanded to know.

"Yeah, what is everyone doing here?"Minako asked.

"So there is no meeting, after all!"Artemis exclaimed. "What is going on here?"

"Well, I had to borrow that perfume! It's not fair you only let Ami wear it! I have to try it with Mamoru! And see if any other guys like me, as well."said Usagi.

"What?! What perfume?"asked Artemis suspiciously.

"She lent it to Ami, to see if Zoicite would kiss her."Makoto explained.

"You mean?"he asked Minako, in disbelief.

"It was for a good cause."she shrugged. "Besides, I'm sure Ami liked it. Obviously, I had to get those two together! If I didn't give Ami a little push, she'd never go out with him, and it was obvious she so wanted to!"

Artemis looked shocked.

"Well…"he hesitated. "I suppose you're right."he conceded. "Ami did need a little push."

"Just like Jadeite needs."added Rei.

"Jadeite?"asked Usagi, Makoto, and Artemis.

"What does Jadeite have to do with this?"asked Makoto. "I really need it, though, Minako."

"Of course, I've always known you like Jadeite, Rei."said Minako. "And that you'd probably ask for it, as well, Makoto. Although, I've never known why you just haven't gone out with Nephrite."

Makoto sighed.

"We know he's not interested in me."she said, sadly. "That's why I need that perfume of yours!"

"I don't think this is a good idea."said Artemis, sternly. "It could be dangerous!"


	8. Chapter 8

Artemis looked angry.

"This isn't a toy, Minako!"he told her sternly.

Minako wasn't paying attention to him. Artemis silently cursed himself for ever having given it to her. Luna would certainly not be happy when she found out, which she was bound to, as Usagi would certainly tell her. Minako, as senshi of Venus, and leader of the guardian senshi, he considered it important for her to learn the things that set Venusians apart from the others in the Solar System, and the galaxy as well, as part of her training. Apparently, that turned out to be a mistake. Luna would certainly be furious with him.

"Really, Minako, this could be a bit dangerous!"he insisted.

The other girls were thrilled, as they pocketed the bottles, and left. This was going to turn out to be a disaster, he was sure.

"Uh, Minako, they, um, aren't by any chance planning on doing something like,"he gulped. "wear that stuff to a place like school, or somewhere in public?"he asked, tentatively.

"I'm not sure."she replied, happily, as she climbed back in bed. "Maybe."she yawned.

Artemis groaned. This was going to be worse than he imagined. And he might not even be able to imagine the worst.

The next morning, Usagi, Rei, and Makoto carried the bottles in their pockets. They each thought to keep them hidden until they met Mamoru, Jadeite, or Nephrite, although they each wondered if it would be better to have a date. Usagi thought this would be a great idea, but Rei and Makoto were sure that they would never get dates without the perfume, so they decided to do use it before.

"Good morning."Ami meeting Usagi and Makoto at the side entrance. "You all look kind of sleepy."she observed. "Did you stay up late studying?"

"Um, yes."said Makoto.

"You could have called me. I would have been glad to help you."

"Oh, I just really had to go over some things really quick. Nothing to bother you with."Makoto said, sounding cheerful. "Um, I'll be right back."

She rushed to the restroom, and peered anxiously in the mirror. Ami's comment had made her wonder if she really looked like she'd been up all night. There would be no way Nephrite would notice her if that was so. To her relieve, it looked more like Minako had told her, or Ami was extremely observant. Makoto breathed a sigh of relief, and walked to class.

Rei sat in class, her mind on the little bottle she had gotten from Minako last night, instead of today's assignment written on the board. Usually, she wasn't one to daydream in class, but it seemed to her, that this was much more important than school at the moment. She sighed, and looked at the clock. It was going to be a long day.

"Really, Artemis."Luna sounded annoyed, as they walked down the street.

They had accompanied Usagi and Minako to school. Once the girls had started class, they usually debated if it would be better to wait for them in the schoolyard, or to head on home, either to Usagi's or Minako's, or Rei's temple. Of course, whether or not there was a meeting also counted, as that would mean they would usually end up going to Rei's temple.

"You look awfully distracted."she told him.

He kept walking back and forth.

"I think…never mind."he said, resuming his walk.

"You seem a little distracted."

Artemis sighed.

"I know you're probably going to be upset,"he began. He wasn't sure he wanted to tell Luna, but knew he had to, after all, she was bound to find out, not only could Usagi not keep secrets, but surely she would notice Mamoru's behavior. "um, I'm sure you're not going to like this, but,"he cleared his throat. "you see, you know, Minako's the senshi of Venus, and I just thought it would be a good idea, as part of her training, I gave her the perfume."he finished rapidly.

Luna looked amused.

"Knowing Minako, she's probably going to wear it everywhere, and everyday."

"Uh, not just Minako, actually."

"What do you mean?"she looked confused. "Artemis, don't tell me you-"

"No! Hehe, no."he interrupted her nervously. "Why in the world would I ever use any Venusian love potions, perfumes, or anything like that? I was actually talking about…did Usagi by any chance go anywhere, last night?"he asked.

"Well, yes."Luna nodded. "She said she had come across a youma, and that took a while."she frowned. "Really, she arrived very late."

Artemis gulped.

"Actually, I highly doubt there was any youma."he told her. "You see, all the girls were actually at Minako's last night."

"What? But aren't the meeting usually at Rei's temple? And I had no idea."

"It wasn't a meeting. Minako lend the perfume to Ami, for that date with Zoicite, and seeing how it worked for Ami, the other girls wanted it, as well. Minako, uh, she gave them some, as well."he finished.

Luna was speechless.

"What for?"she asked, finally.

"I don't really want to think about it."

"We have to stop them! Artemis, how could you!"

Artemis nodded.

"I know! I know! I just thought…it never occurred to me that Minako would give it to the other girls."

Luna looked furious.

"Artemis, you're so stupid!"she yelled out at him.

Now it was her, the one who was pacing back and forth.

"What are we going to do!"she demanded. "We have to stop them! Do you have any idea what the consequences could be? Exactly how much does Minako know of the effects?"

"Well, I only gave it to her a week or so ago. She said she was saving it for someone special! And she wanted to think very carefully, on how to use it. I never dreamed she'd ever give it to Ami, or anyone else."he apologized.

"Exactly which one did you give her? And what did you tell her? Artemis, you really are a fool."

"I beg your pardon,"said Artemis coldly. "however, I do believe that _I_ am the advisor to the senshi of Venus. I do have a greater knowledge of perfumes, and such of Venus than you do."

"I suppose you're right."admitted Luna. "But what are we going to do about those perfumes. This is going to take some serious thinking."

Artemis agreed.

"We could probably take them out of their bags, and put something fake in there."he suggested.

"Usagi keeps them in her bag, and she has her bag with her."Luna reminded him. "And what about Rei, Makoto, and Ami?"

"Uh, Ami doesn't have it anymore. She only used it once."he looked up, at the students. "Hmm, maybe Minako is a better matchmaker than I gave her credit for."

Even though Ami was acting as shy as ever around Zoicite, he could certainly see that she looked pleased with his attention. He thought it seemed odd for Ami to be leaving school, with someone who was not one of the other girls or else, alone.

"I suppose she knew what she was doing with Ami and Zoicite."he murmured.

"We should be thinking how to get those bottles away from them, not admiring Minako's work."Luna reminded him. "And we have to figure out how fast! School's already over for the day, and we have to get that perfume away from them!"

"Well, first we have to figure out how."

Artemis sighed.

"Well, I know for a fact that Minako will not be willing to help."he sounded miserable. "You know, I wonder who she was saving it for."

"Artemis, will you forget about that!"demanded Luna.

"Right."Artemis agreed. "Do you know if Usagi and Mamoru have a date, or something? Then we might have less time than we thought."

"And you have to keep making things seem worse than they are!"she reminded him.

"Well, we have to get to work, quickly!"he agreed. "But what if they go separate ways?"

Luna thought for a minute.

"We'll cross that bridge once we get there. I know! Let's hold an emergency meeting at Rei's temple. I'll go get Usagi, you get Ami, and then they'll tell everyone else on their communicators!"

Artemis nodded, and got to it.


	9. Chapter 9

No one seemed too interested in what Artemis and Luna had scheduled them at Rei's temple for, as the only one to show up was Ami. She had explained that everyone else had already planned something for the afternoon, and Usagi had disappeared, even though Luna had tried to keep an eye on her.

"Where did everyone go?"Artemis demanded.

Ami simply shrugged, and frowned in thought, trying to remembed.

"I think Usagi had to see Mamoru, that's for sure, I think Makoto said she wanted to get some studying done, and I haven't seen Rei."

"She had to run some errands!"exclaimed Artemis.

"What's wrong?"Ami looked concerned. "Is something the matter? Is it a new enemy?"she asked.

Luna shook her head.

"No, what's wrong is that Artemis is a fool!"she said.

Ami still looked concerned, yet perplexed.

"I don't understand."said Ami.

"Hehe, you know that perfume Minako lent you?"he asked, a little nervously.

Ami nodded, still looking as confused as ever.

"Well, you know that it was so, um, Zoicite would kiss you. When the other girls found out, they broke into the house last night, to, um, borrow some, and when Minako and I found them, she let them borrow some, as well."he explained.

"Oh. I suppose they'd have figured a way to get ahold of it, regardless."Ami smiled. "After all, you know, how they are."she nodded.

Luna still looked upset.

"Is something still wrong?"Ami was starting to worry.

"That, um, perfume, see, it can have serious consequences when…not used properly."

"I suppose that can happen with anything."Ami nodded.

"Of course, but these can be quite serious."Artemis told her.

"What kind of consequences?"she asked, now feeling a bit nervous.

"We have to find those girls as soon as possible!"Artemis's voice sounded urgent.

"I just don't understand! I know it's dangerous, from what you told me, but I don't understand the nature of it."

"We'll explain later! Right now, we have to find them!"his voice sounded urgent. "Do you have any idea where they could be?"

Ami shook her head.

"I guess Mamoru must be at his apartment, is all."she said, shrugging. "So I guess Usagi must be there, as well."

"Then we should go there first!"he insisted.

They ran out of the temple, and began their way toward Mamoru's, Artemis and Luna explaining to Ami.

"You mean, it's a Venusian perfume?"asked Ami.

"Yes, Venusians were always well known for it around the Galaxy, well, hopefully, in the future, someday again, they will, but at least nothing Chibiusa has ever said has led us to believe it. Then again, they could be keeping it a secret from her."

Ami thought for a while.

"I suppose, then Zoicite must still be under the effect."she sighed.

"Uh, no, the effect wears off after a while."Luna assured her.

Artemis nodded.

"The amount you used was fine, and it serves multiple purposes. See, it can sort of, um, like, well, when used in small quantities, it can simply relax someone, and cause them to speak more easily, like it did for you and Zoicite. Both of you obviously, desperately felt…a deep affection for each other?"

Ami blushed. Had it really been that obvious? Then again, that must have been why she had felt so…odd that evening. She thought perhaps someone had somehow spiked her drink, or something, now she knew it was the perfume Minako had insisted she wear.

"It just made you less apprehensive? And you just spoke truthfully to each other. That was also a use for it. It could be used to make people tell the truth. People would go to Venus, it was somewhat of a resort planet. However, when used in large quantities, and carelessly, it can create serious obsessions, fascinations, fixations, infatuations, and there's just no telling to what they could possibly pertain to! And that's just one thing!"Artemis explained to her. "There are different strengths, and, of course, it depends on the quantity, and how you use it, your emotions at the time, and several factors. It also affects non-Venusians differently. Mercurians might be affected similarly, as they're similar to Venusians, but the more different they are, such as any extra Solars, and sometimes you just never know."

"You think that this could happen to Usagi, Rei, and Makoto?"Ami asked him.

"Perhaps to the guys, as well. And maybe several people in their immediate vicinity."

"Oh, dear!"

Ami walked quicker.

"Then we have to get there as quickly as possible! But doesn't Minako know about this?"

"Some of it!"said Artemis defensively. "But I can't do everything myself!"he sounded indignant.

"Then you should have explained first!"said Luna coldly.

Artemis sighed. He hated to have Luna mad at him. Now what was he supposed to do?he wondered.

"That was then. What we have to worry about is now. And right now we have to get that away from them, before something disastrous happens!"Ami intervened, calmly.

"Right you are, Ami!"Luna agreed.

"We might get more done if we split up! But then, I don't think there's much of a chance of either of you stopping them, do you think?"she asked Luna and Artemis.

"I will take care of Usagi."assured Luna.

Ami thought.

"Perhaps I'll speak to Rei, I think I'll be able to reason with her. That only leaves Makoto, Artemis, you will find Makoto, and stop her from using that love perfume, or whatever it is."

Artemis really hadn't counted on that. After all, Luna might have better luck with Usagi, as she knew her best, and she could probably count on Mamoru's judgement, if she hadn't used the perfume on him. Ami could probably persuade Rei. _Just like them to leave Makoto to me_, he thought darkly. After all, she was the most likely to beat him up, or something. Especially when he told her about the perfume. It was true that Rei did have a fiery temper, however, he could always hide, or something!

"Uh, wouldn't it be better if you spoke to Makoto, Ami?"he suggested.

"Ami, you will go and find Rei."said Luna, severely. "Where should we start looking?"she asked.

"Not the library…"Ami began to think. "Hmm, do you have any idea on whom they wanted to use it on?"she asked.

"I think they must have mentioned it, but I can't really remember at the moment."Artemis told her.

"Well, we know where Usagi is, but Rei and Makoto…they're not at the temple…I'm not really good at detecting."admitted Ami. "Perhaps we can track them using their communicators?"she suggested.


	10. Chapter 10

The communicators were useless, as apparently, no one would answer, however, Ami managed to track them down using the Mercury computer, and they split up. Luna ran to Mamoru's apartment, Artemis to find Makoto, and, finally, Ami to where Rei, or at least, Rei's communicator was.

Luna ran as fast as her four paws could carry her. Fortunately, she knew a few shortcuts, and made her way to Mamoru's through an alley. She just wished she wouldn't be too late. Climbing a few trees, to get to Mamoru's window, she caught glimpses of other rooms, some empty, some with people reading, eating, or watching television. She even came across someone who was studying. If only Usagi could learn from that example! Then she wouldn't be such a difficult senshi to train, but no, her manga always seemed to hold priority over anything. Well, except for food at least. Especially chocolate milkshakes. Finally, Luna got to the right window, fortunately, it wasn't closed or locked. Maybe Mamoru forgot to close the windows as often as Minako did, if Artemis was to be believed. She crawled in.

"Usagi! Usagi!"she called out. No one answered. "Mamoru! Are you here?"

She looked around. Everything looked as normal as could be, in Mamoru's apartment. Nothing was out of place, everything was clean and neat. Perhaps Usagi hadn't been here at all.

"Usagi!"Luna was so relieved when she finally glimpsed her owner, or as she liked to think of her, her very good friend. "At last! Just where have you been!"Luna demanded, climbing up on Usagi's shoulders. "I've been looking everywhere! Artemis-"

"Eeeek! It's a cat! Oh, hi, Luna."

Luna thought she'd never seen Usagi look so alarmed before.

"Oh, um, hi. Uh, Usagi, why are you morphed?"she asked. "Is there a youma?"now she was alarmed.

"A youma?"exclaimed Usagi. "I knew it! Where! Hurry, Luna! We must find it!"

Now that explained everything. Usagi must have been exposed to the perfume, which instead of infatuating Mamoru with her, infatuated her with saving the world. That might not be a bad thing, after all, she thought. At least now she took her role as Sailor Moon much more seriously.

"I don't know about any youma right now, Sailor Moon."Luna told her. "However, I think you should de morph, and we should talk."she said reluctantly.

She was starting to have second thoughts about this. It might not be such a bad idea to leave Usagi like this. She'd never get Usagi to train or listen to her lessons if she were back to normal.

Usagi was shaking her head.

"No."her voice sounded firm. "There's no way I can de morph. Don't you see?"she pleaded.

"See what?"

"If I finish off every enemy, the sooner I do that, the more time I will have to spend with Mamoru!"at mentioning the name, her entire expression changed. It was as though it lit up.

Luna gawped.

"What? But I thought you were doing this because you had finally decided to take your role as Sailor Moon much more seriously! At least more than you take your manga!"

Usagi looked confused.

"What are you talking about? Who could possibly think of manga when there are enemies out there who are set on separating me from my one true love?!"she looked honestly shocked. "Luna,"she began sternly. "I think you are being very rude and self centered!"her voice sounded cold. "Are you in on it, too? Or perhaps you're not the real Luna! You're impersonating my cat, my mentor, and you're really set on separating me from my prince! Who are you? Oh, Tuxedo Kamen!"she rushed into his arms.

Luna hadn't even noticed him walk in.

"That's not really Luna! I know Luna would never say such horrible things to me as that cat did! Watch out, she's an imposter, who's set on separating us!"Usagi pointed in Luna's direction.

Luna had very little time to think, as she dodged, avoiding being hit by a red rose narrowly, and crawled under a piece of furniture.

"Where did it go?"she could hear Mamoru's voice saying.

"Look, the window!"Usagi yelled. "It probably went out the window! We have to go after it, together!"

"You know I wouldn't go after it without you, Sailor Moon."

Luna heard their running footsteps, and peeked to make sure it was safe to come out now.

"Artemis, I am going to kill you!"she muttered under her breath. "Not only is Usagi now obsessed with Mamoru, and saving the world, now they're both convinced I'm a youma who's determined to separate them! Artemis, you're going to wish you were never born!"she kept muttering, as she made her way down.

Ami nervously knocked at the door. Despite everything Luna and Artemis had told her, she wasn't sure she would know what to do, when she faced Rei. She wasn't sure which would be worse, if the perfume had worked, or if it hadn't worked, and Rei would probably be furious. Oh, well, there would only be one way to find out, wouldn't there?

"Oh, hello, um, you're Jadeite."she said, to the person who opened the door.

"Yeah, I am."he answered, smiling widely.

"Um, I don't suppose you know where my friend Rei is, do you?"she asked, shyly.

She was always shy around boys.

"Ah, Rei!"

Ami looked up, puzzled. She didn't know Jadeite very well, however she was sure she'd never seen him look so…happy. At least not as happy as he did right now.

"Um, yes, Rei."

"You know Rei, too?"he asked.

Ami nodded.

"Of course."she said.

Jadeite sighed.

"Then you would obviously agree with me. I dream about her night and day. I just can't stop thinking about her. Her long, dark hair! Those expressive dark eyes!"he sighed. "They shine and shimmer, just like the mysterious, unreachable stars in the night sky."

"Um, excuse me, but I think you still haven't answered my question yet."Ami insisted. "I need to find Rei. Do you know where she is?"

"It's been like a dream come true!"he looked almost as if he were about to sob with joy, as he led her inside.

"Rei!"exclaimed Ami, and ran to her.

"Ami!"Rei ran and hugged her tightly.

She'd never seen Rei act like this before.

"Can you believe it?!"she asked.

"Um, no."Ami shook her head. "Um, Rei, you have to listen to me, it's important."

Rei shook her head.

"No, Ami, nothing can possibly be more important!"both Rei and Jadeite looked absolutely horrified. "Don't you see?!"they demanded.

Ami simply looked confused.

"I'm afraid I don't."she said slowly, afraid of what they might answer.

Rei looked exasperated.

"You know, I think Minako was right about pushing you a bit, although I must speak to her. It apparently wasn't enough. Ami, don't you see that Jadeite and I are in love!"

"Oh."she realized she'd gotten there too late.

Not knowing what else to do, she decided she should go back and find Luna and Artemis. Or perhaps she should stay here, and keep an eye on Rei and Jadeite. She took a seat, and watched as Rei and Jadeite knelt down on the hearth, before the fire. Rei telling Jadeite how she had always found the flames beautiful, and Jadeite doing nothing but staring at Rei, and commenting on how beautiful she was.

"Shouldn't you not play with fire?"asked Ami, sternly, however, Rei and Jadeite seemed unaware of her.

Artemis finally got to Makoto's. He thought it would be better simply to peek through the window. He groaned. Obviously, he was too late.

"Luna is going to kill me."he said to himself, as he listened to Nephrite recite poetry to Makoto. "Hmm, I never knew Nephrite was interested in poetry."


	11. Chapter 11

"So, what are we going to do next?"asked Ami. "There was absolutely no way I could possibly separate Rei from Jadeite."

Artemis stayed as far as possible from Luna, who looked absolutely murderous.

"We were too late."he said.

"Does this perfume wear off? Like, after say, twenty four hours, or something?"

Artemis sighed.

"It depends on a lot of things. How much, and so forth."he told her.

"We need to find a way to cure them fast!"

They heard the phone ring. Ami picked it up, and angrily Luna slapped it out of her hand, picked it up, and hung it up again.

"There's no time for all this!"she said, angrily. "We have to figure out a solution!"

"Luna!"Ami looked shocked.

Artemis gulped, and resisted the urge to run and hide.

"There's no time for this!"Luna repeated angrily. "We have to cure Sailor Moon! And Tuxedo Kamen! She's so obsessed with saving the world now, she's seeing enemies every where! I can't go near her because she thinks I'm an imposter, who's set on causing chaos, or something, to separate them!"

Ami nodded.

"Rei, Jadeite, Makoto and Nephrite, too."she said. "I've never seen Rei so…the point is, she's definitely not herself. No one is. Maybe we can get Minako to help us. Or, would that make it worse?"she asked Artemis.

"Come to think of it, I haven't seen Minako anywhere at all today."he answered.

"Wouldn't she be at home? Or at school?"

He shook his head.

"The arcade?"she suggested.

"No. I looked there as well. I looked after I found Makoto and Nephrite. There was nothing I could do about it, and I went looking for her, but she was nowhere to be found."

Ami looked alarmed.

"Oh, dear, do you think she's disappeared? Or something happened to her?"she asked, anxiously. "If Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen thought Luna was an imposter, maybe they attacked Minako, taking her for a youma as well?"

"Don't joke about that."said Luna, remembering Sailor Moon's obsession. "And anyway, I'm pretty sure Minako can take care of herself."

"But where could she be?"

"We've got to hurry! Or something destructive could happen!"Artemis told them. "There's just no telling what they could possibly do in that state."

"But apparently, only Usagi and Mamoru are the only ones who could cause any real damage, seeing how she's set on saving the world, but seeing youmas wherever she goes."Ami said, calmly.

Artemis shook his head.

"No. Think, like, that Rei, or rather Sailor Mars, could do anything to try and impress and Jadeite!"

"Oh!"Ami looked worried. She could imagine the kind of thing that Rei would probably do. "You're right."she agreed. "We have to go, quickly."

Artemis began pacing back and forth, thinking where Minako could possibly be. Luna looked furious.

"Now we have to search for Minako, as well!"Luna demanded.

"And Makoto!"Ami reminded them. "She'd do something drastic, I'm sure!"

Artemis groaned. How could he possibly have let that perfume fall into the girls' hands? He should have ran after them, and stolen it from them, before they had a chance to use it! Or rather, never have given it to Minako at all!

"But how do we make the effect pass?"asked Ami. "How long does the effect last?'she asked. "Or what we should do?"

"First, we have to find them, and as we agree that the perfume affected Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen first, and apparently, strongest, we should find them first."

"And them?"asked Ami, as they ran toward the door.

"We'll think of something on the way."said Luna.

"But if anything had happened, it'd have been on the news, or people would be talking about it."said Artemis, hopefully.

"You'd better hope nothing has happened, Artemis!"said Luna, coldly.

Artmis gulped. He was more afraid of what Luna could do, or say, if anything did happen, then if anything actually happened.

"Maybe we can track her down using her communicator."he suggested.

If he helped, that might make the punishment less drastic.

"Good idea."Ami agreed, taking out her computer.

She pressed a few keys, and waited.

"Hmm,"she said. "according to this, Minako's at home. I thought you said that she wasn't home."she asked Artemis.

"I'm just so nervous, maybe I didn't even know what I was saying, he he."he sounded relieved.

Ami and Luna nodded.

"Then we'd better get going. There's no time to lose."

They reached Minako's house, but while Ami rang the doorbell five times, no one answered.

"That's odd."said Ami, ringing it a sixth time. "Is Minako a deep sleeper?"she asked Artemis.

"Uh, not really. Sometimes it takes a while to wake her up, but not very much. She should have gotten up by now. Maybe she's in the shower."he suggested.

Ami nodded. That made sense.

"Then how are we going to get in?"she asked.

Artemis thought.

"I'll go in through the pet door, and then I'll open the door for you."he said, heading toward the back yard.

"We'll wait for you right here."said Ami.

A few minutes later, they could hear Artemis struggling with the locks, until they heard his voice saying, "It's open!" and Ami opened the door and walked in.

"But I don't hear the shower running at all!"observed Ami. "Minako!"

"Uh, you're right. I don't either."agreed Artemis.

"Where exactly is the communicator, Ami?"asked Luna.

Ami consulted her computer again.

"Hmm, according to this it should be in Minako's bedroom. Maybe she is asleep, after all. Or it's in the room under it."

They went upstairs. The bedroom door was wide open, but Minako was no where in sight.

"Where is she?"Luna sounded concerned.

"Uh, I don't want to think about it."said Artemis in a weak voice.

Both girls turned to look where Artemis was gesturing. They saw that the container of perfume was gone.


	12. Chapter 12

Minako had so many crushes, Ami didn't know where to start.

"On who could she be planning to use it on?"she asked Artemis.

After all, he knew her best, and might have some idea.

"Uh,"Artemis looked just as confused as Ami did. "well…"he hesitated. "she wasn't seeing anyone seriously, at least not right now."he said, frowning in an effort to remember. "She hasn't seen anyone for quite a while."he sounded surprised at remembering. "That's going to make it much more difficult to find her!"he said.

"Then who could she possibly be planning on using it?"Ami didn't have the slightest idea where they had to begin searching.

"Let's search the room!"said Artemis.

"Good idea."replied Luna.

"What?!"Ami looked horrified. "Search her room?! But…but,"invading someone's else's privacy! Searching their belonging?!

"Desperate times call for desperate measures."insisted Luna.

"Won't Minako be upset that we searched her things?"asked Ami.

After all, she knew she would be.

"Just forget about that! We have something bigger to worry about!"

Ami gulped, and began to dig through the contents of a drawer.

"Just where does Minako keep her most private, most intimate things?"asked Luna. "Does she keep a diary?"

"We can't read her diary!!"exclaimed Ami.

"Artemis, you know her best! Ami, don't you have any ideas? Women usually know where other women hide things. Or they would have a pretty good idea, wouldn't they?"Luna looked from Artemis to Ami.

"Don't you have any ideas, Luna?"he asked, hopefully.

"Ami? Where would you hide anything?"

Ami blushed, thinking what would happen if anyone ever found where she kept her private journal. If she told them, would they tell the other senshi? She knew she wouldn't survive if they found out. Especially Minako's teasing. Should she tell them, or not?

"Don't you have any idea?"asked Luna.

Should she, or shouldn't she? It was important to find Minako, however…Minako might not keep her things in the same places as she did. After all, she highly doubted Minako had a chess set. And it wasn't likely that Luna and Artemis would say anything. At least not Luna, Artemis, she wasn't too sure.

"Well…"Ami cleared her throat. "Artemis, would you please step out?"she asked.

"Huh?"Artemis looked surprised. "What?"

"Um, like Luna said, only women know where other women would hide things. It…It's a girl thing, you know."

"Uh, all right, I guess."

Artemis went out of the room, with a confused look on his face. Ami cleared her throat, after closing the door behind him, and turned to face Luna.

"I…you won't say anything, would you?"she begged Luna.

"What? We're looking for something of Minako's, not yours."Luna reminded her.

"I know, but…I usually keep my…belongings, a chess board. I keep the pieces on the board. It opens and closes, so you can keep the pieces inside it, and put it away. I don't keep the pieces inside, that's where I keep…some things."she told Luna.

"But Minako doesn't play chess."answered Luna.

"I know…but you can't tell anyone! Imagine they decided to search my room, just like we're doing now, and they find the letters I wrote!"horrified by what she had just said, Ami slapped her hand over her mouth.

"Letters? What letters did you write, Ami? Who have you been writing letters to, that you haven't sent them? Love letters?"asked Luna, in a most unLuna-like tone.

"Aren't we supposed to find Minako?"Ami tried to change the subject. "What about Makoto's bag? Where she keeps her volleyball uniform, or something?"she suggested, trying to get Luna's mind off those letters.

Ami just wished that she hadn't said anything. Those were the consequences of letting her nerves and shyness get the better of her! And she thought she wasn't supposed to be as shy anymore! She would probably have to find Minako, more to find that perfume, to help her with her timidness, as well as finding Minako for herself. Perhaps that might help. She might even get the nerve to send them.

"I'd better tell Artemis to come back inside."Luna walked toward the door.

"Did you find anything?"asked Artemis, hopefully.

"We've discarded just about everything, except for her gym bag. Do you know where she keeps that?"explained Luna to him.

"Minako would _never_ forgive us if we went through her gym stuff!"he told them.

"All the more reason why she could be hiding something in there."insisted Luna.

"She always puts it somewhere different, I'm not sure where she left it last time. Hmm,"he thought. "Let's see, I've noticed her stash it under the bed, in a drawer, in the closet, behind the desk, I think."

"It fits behind the desk?!"

"I'm not sure! But it might."he said. "I'm not allowed to watch when she takes anything in or out of it. She says she's embarrassed that I would see her dirty gym clothes, or something. Although she doesn't mind it if I see any of her other clothes. I always thought that was just one of Minako's oddities. If you knew just how many odd habits she has! And really odd, as well. Not just out of the ordinary, but beyond that, if you know what I mean."

"Then we should start the search."Ami began to search through the closet.

"Believe me, Artemis."said Luna. "I do know what you mean about someone's oddities."

Although most of Usagi's oddities revolved around Mamoru, her favorite manga, mostly Sailor V, and way to get better grades without having to study. While Luna and Artemis were busy discussing their owners, or rather very good friends, as they referred to them, Ami was looking in what seemed to her the most expected places for Minako to have placed her bag with no success.

"Aren't you two going to help me?!"she suddenly demanded, interrupting the cats' conversation.

"Huh?"

The cats gave Minako a puzzled look, seeming unaware of anything Ami was saying.

"Aren't you going to help me look?"she demanded of them.

"Oh, it's in the toy box. If you look under all the toys. Minako says she keeps them because of the memories they bring her from her pre Senshi days, as she puts it. But most of them she's bought in the last couple of months. At least that's the last place I saw her put it."

"I thought you said you had no idea!"

"Oh, did I?"

Ami threw her hands up in frustration, and walked to the toy box, as Artemis indicated. She took out some dolls, doll clothing, tea sets, and other things, until, finally, she found what she was looking for.

"Here it is."she pulled it out.

"Oh, good."Luna nodded, as Ami opened it.

Apart from Minako's gym clothes, her lucky volleyball, and a few other items, they found a few pictures, some with notes scribbled on the back in Minako's handwriting, as well as a notebook in which Minako had scribbled. Ami, Luna, and Artemis stared at the pictures open mouthed, not believing their eyes.


	13. Chapter 13

_I'm SO sorry, I posted the wrong ch by mistake. Anyway, here's the right one. Sorry again._

"I always knew Minako was a bit…peculiar, but I never thought…"Artemis looked up, at Ami. "I guess it could explain why she hasn't had many dates lately. It's obviously not just any crush. She hasn't kept such things from any of her other crushes. What if it really is something else?"

"True love."sighed Ami.

Neither Luna nor Artemis had ever heard Ami sigh like that.

"Are you all right, Ami?"Luna asked her.

"Uh, I'm fine."Ami replied. "So,"she cleared her throat. "this must be who Minako is planning to use her perfume on."

Artemis looked thoughtful.

"It shouldn't be _too_ difficult to find Minako."he said. "If it really is true love, as you say, then all we have to do is find any boys who look a bit dazed."

Ami looked confused.

"I don't understand."

"That's something else about it."

Artemis turned on the television, and turned to the news. There were a few reports of boys acting strangely, attempting to jump off bridges, buildings, singing in horrible voices, dancing, trying to do handstands.

"Why is everyone behaving like this?"asked Ami.

"They must have gotten a waft of it."Artemis answered.

"A waft? Of what?"she asked.

"Of Minako's perfume. Especially if she over dosed!"

Ami's attention was still on the television.

"I better not see Zoicite on any of those reports."she muttered.

Luna and Artemis didn't hear.

"Do you have a map? Ami!"Luna tried to get Ami's attention. "Get the Mercury computer. We have to trace just where these events are happening!"

"Oh!"

Ami took the computer, and began to trace a path.

"Hmm, first it leads us to the arcade…"she told them.

"She must have gone there first."said Artemis.

"It looks like it was stronger there. In Mamoru's apartment building, as well."

Artemis groaned.

"If it's in an enclosed space, it could be stronger. You know, it accumulates, and such."

"It looks like even people in other apartments, and floors were affected!"exclaimed Artemis.

"But why is this happening?"asked Ami.

Artemis sighed.

"Sometimes these things, um, work a little differently with Venusians themselves. And if she used the entire vial, the most likely thing is that wherever she goes, she impresses boys. Some are highly susceptible. They try to do things to seem more impressive. Some things don't make any sense. It's a very old trick. A lot of Venusians did it when they visited other planets. It was forbidden at the balls at the Moon Palace. Then none of the women would have dates, and all the men would be doing stupid things."

"Is it serious?"Ami asked him.

"It can be."Artemis sounded grim.

"Is there a way to reverse it?"asked Luna.

"It wears off after a while."he assured them. "Especially if their not exposed to the Venusian for long. But look on the bright side, now we know where to look for Minako. Let's go!"

Ami put the Mercury computer away, and followed the two cats outside. They had to take an alternate route, as there were several people, most of them trying to restrain boys. The route they took was a bit difficult for Ami, as they crossed alleys, and she had to climb a couple of fences.

"I just hope we do find her."she panted.

"When this is over Artemis…just remember that I will never forgive you!"Luna said, coldly.

Artemis groaned. He really didn't like it when Luna was mad at him. They finally found Minako. They lost the trail for a while, until it led them to a park.

"Now what are we going to do?"asked Ami. "There aren't anymore people around."

"We'll just have to look, is all."

They found Minako under a tree with Kunzite. He looked perfectly fine, it seemed.

"I thought you said the perfume was supposed to make them a bit more oblivious, Artemis."Ami commented.

Artemis scratched his ear.

"Most of them. No one is really immune. It's more of a difference in degree, you know. Some get it pretty bad, others handle it better. But it's bound to have some effect."

Now that she thought about it, looked closely, and remembered, she had never seen Kunzite smile. It wasn't even a small, serious smile.

"So, it doesn't affect him like the ones we passed?"

Artemis shook his head.

"Doesn't look like it."

Minako looked simply radiant. Of course, they knew that most of the time, you could count on finding Minako smiling, and happy, however none of them had ever seen her like this. Usually, she was bubbling over with talk, although she always got maxims wrong, she was always bursting with energy. Now she looked happy, but in a different way. She looked calm and serene, and was listening intently to everything Kunzite was saying.

"I've never seen Kunzite speak so much. He's usually so quiet."said Luna.

"Is that how it's affecting him?"asked Ami.

"It could be one of the effects."

"Just like Zoicite? I never thought Kunzite would be shy to approach Minako, or anything. He always looked so confident."

"I wonder what they're saying."said Artemis, suspiciously. "I don't like that guy. You think he'll be shocked at seeing a talking cat?"he asked them.

"Uh, most likely."Ami told him. "Why?"

He walked away from them, and approached Minako and Kunzite.

"You don't think he's going to talk to her in front of Kunzite, do you?"Ami asked Luna, nervously.

"I do hope not."said Luna. "That wouldn't be very smart."

"Should we stop him?"

But it was too late. Artemis was already purring and rubbing against Minako's leg.


	14. Chapter 14

Artemis walked up to Minako. He was about to rub his head against her leg, and get her attention, but then decided it would be better to remain out of sight, and listen in on their conversation. It could just be that this one was just one of Minako's crushes, true, however, he just didn't know what intention Kunzite could have. He would have to find out on his own.

"Isn't that your cat? The one with the crescent moon on its forehead?"he heard Kunzite ask.

"Artemis?!"Minako exclaimed.

Kunzite exclaimed about the time, said he had to go, and turned to leave. Now, Artemis was wishing he would stay. Minako would be furious.

"What are you doing, Artemis!"

"Minako?"he tried to act surprised. "I…had no idea you were here!"

"What are you doing here?"she demanded.

"I was just…looking for Kunzite. I saw a picture of him in your things."

"You were going through my things!"

Ami and Luna knew that Minako could be very intimidating when she was angry, however, neither of them had seen her like this. And Artemis was just making things worse for himself, he ended up confessing he'd been looking for one of Minako's favorite hairbrushes, which he liked to stroke against, which apparently had been the reason Minako had ended up with white cat hairs on her head. That had cost her a date, as the guy she'd been flirting with, who had commented that she was starting to get gray hairs. That he had come across the picture whilst looking for that. Not to mention a number of other things. Minako looked like she was about to strangle him. Artemis turned and fled behind Ami and Luna.

"You are here, too?"Minako asked, looking stumped.

"Yes. We had to find you. Artemis told us that it could be dangerous if you used that perfume. We had to come. Not to mention that everyone else used it! Usagi is now seeing youmas everywhere! She's convinced that everyone and everything is going to separate her and Mamoru. Rei and Makoto are the same way, as well. Not to mention all the boys who have been affected!"Ami exclaimed.

"That's right!"Minako clapped her hands, as though she had just remembered something. "Just why did it wear off so quickly on Kunzite? And why didn't it affect him as much as the others!"she demanded of Artemis.

"He must have some degree of immunity to it. Or he's not particularly sensitive."

Minako sighed.

"I guess that means I'd have to look for some other means."she said, sadly.

"Means?"asked Ami, intrigued.

Minako was about to answer when Luna interrupted.

"Forget about that right now."she sounded annoyed. "First we have to cure Sailor Moon! And the rest of the girls! Along with Mamoru's friends!"

"How are we going to go about that?"asked Ami, trying to get her mind off the means Minako had mentioned.

"A few little ways. One, you could expose something embarrassing or unpleasant about the person they're obsessed with. That only doesn't work on Venusians, or when it's Venusians using the perfume."

"What about Kunzite?"she asked.

"Let's not worry about Kunzite right now."said Artemis. "Anyway, we could also present them with a new obsession. Um, a new person, or a new item."

"I don't think that would be a good idea."Ami said quickly.

"No, it wouldn't."he agreed.

"What could we say about Rei, Makoto and Usagi?"Ami asked Minako.

"Um, I know Usagi thinks that Mamoru sometimes dresses a bit dull."said Luna.

"Why would that be unpleasant?"Minako sounded confused.

"It doesn't have to be something unpleasant, exactly. Just something the person with the obsession finds…a bit unpleasant, or makes them uncomfortable, sad, something like that, you know what I mean?"Artemis explained.

"So Mamoru would be unhappy that Usagi thought anything about him dull?"asked Ami.

"I guess we could use that. What about Rei and Makoto?"Luna asked.

"We know Makoto gets into fights…and Rei, we could say…"

"Jadeite likes Rei's hair! We could say she uses something in it. Extensions!"Minako told them.

"Then let's get going! Where to first?"

"Just whoever we run across."

"But what about the girls?"asked Luna.

"Once the obsession is gone, the boys themselves can take care of it!"Artemis assured them.

They came across Rei and Jadeite first.

"Go, Artemis."said Luna.

"What?!"Artemis sounded surprised. "Me?!"

Luna nodded sternly.

"But…"

Luna and the girls nodded. Artemis gulped, approached Jadeite, and without Rei noticing, whispered something in his ear. Jadeite's expression changed. He looked confused, as though not knowing exactly where he was. Then he noticed Rei, and he eyed her long, dark hair critically.

"What's the matter?"asked Rei.

"Uh, Rei, what are we doing here?"before she could answer, he asked her, "Do you really have extensions?"

Rei's face underwent the same change as Jadeite's, although, when she recovered, she didn't look upset or confused. Instead, she looked furious.

"What?! What do you mean, extensions!"she demanded.

Artemis ran out of sight, before either noticed him.

"Let's find the others!"

Luna did the same when they found Usagi and Mamoru, and Artemis had to repeat the same procedure when they found Makoto and Nephrite.

"You mean, I was acting like a love struck fool!"demanded Rei. "Because of your magical perfume, Minako!"

They were now sitting in Minako's living room, sipping iced tea and eating cookies, although Usagi was the one who consumed the majority.

"I had no idea."Minako insisted.

"Do any of you remember what happened while you were…obsessed?"Ami asked them.

They nodded.

"That probably means that Nephrite thinks I'm just a bully."said Makoto, sadly. "If we remember, they probably do, as well."

"At least it means they know you better."said Artemis, trying to cheer them up, but each face only got longer.

"Anyway,"Luna interrupted. "I've been thinking, I don't know exactly how much Artemis told Minako about Venusians, however, we think each it's time each of you should learn more about your planets."

"Oh, wow!"exclaimed Ami.

Luna and Artemis handed each of the girls a big book. Each book was a different color, and had a different symbol on the front cover. Even Usagi looked excited to receive a book.

"This looks so awesome!"said Usagi, as she leafed through a silver one with a crescent moon.

"So, anyway, Artemis,"Luna asked later. "just why didn't Minako's perfume work on Kunzite?"she asked. "It seems odd that he was resistant. At least so much."

"That would be because of the cat hair on Minako."Artemis admitted. "I discovered that Kunzite's allergic to cats."

_Who will Minako choose between Kunzite and Artemis? Find out the secrets the senshi will learn from their new books. In my next story, sequel to Ask a Senshi. Not sure what the title's going to be just yet.lolBut it will be up soon._


End file.
